A Night at David and Zac's Farm Featured

Farm to table restaurants are popping up like Starbucks all over New York City these days and last Saturday I had the pleasure of dining at David Burke’s take on farm to table dining at his SoHo restaurant, David Burke Kitchen in the basement of The James Hotel.

charcuterie

To start, my party and I had the charcuterie plate. It is a delightful mix of fresh sopressata and other meats with a mix of vegetables and fried herbs. The mustard seeds and cornichons really cut the saltiness of the cured meat very well. The salmon sticks and market salad were also delicious, but the charcuterie was definitely the standout.

salmon pretzel sticks

The main reason for my visit, however, was to try Zac Young’s Desserts. I’m sure many of you are aware of my sweet tooth and Young’s desserts did not disappoint. We started out with his bacon caramel popcorn, which he told us is his favorite snack food. It definitely does beat Cracker Jack any day. I’d love to see this on Trader Joes’ aisles.

bacon caramel popcorn

Young’s tree of donuts were perfectly crisp and doughy. The caramel and eggnog dipping sauces also brought me out of my post-holiday blues. I loved the booziness of the eggnog sauce and would have downed it if I wasn’t so modest.

donuts

My other favorite desserts were the deconstructed molten carrot cake and the bacon pecan brioche sticky buns. I recommend eating the carrot cake with everything on the plate all together in one bite to achieve the intended effect. The sticky buns have a nice salty sweet combination and would pair well with coffee.

carrot cake

The crème brûlée was the perfect ending to the meal. It is simply a work of art especially the way a piece of white chocolate was so delicately balanced on top of the caramel ice cream. The combination of coconut and salted caramel was also pretty unique.

I really can’t wait to go back and try more of David Burke and Zac Young’s creations. I’ve been told that they are working on a quail pie, which sounds really intriguing.